Description
What? Take a transcript of spoken text (e.g. some text you have dictated into Word) and ask Copilot to tidy this up so it’s easier to read.
Why? Sometimes it’s easier or preferable to speak rather than write, but spoken language often includes things like repetition and long-sentences. Asking Copilot to tidy up a spoken transcript can produce a version that’s easier to read.
Instructions
Step 1: Get a document with a spoken text transcript (if you don’t have one, you can use Microsoft Word to create a transcript via live dictation or by uploading an audio file).
Step 2: Go to Copilot (office.com/chat) and sign in with your Coventry account. If you’re already using Copilot, just select the ‘New chat’ button at the top right.
Step 3: Start the conversation by copying and pasting the following prompt into Copilot, then select the ‘Submit’ button (the arrow at the bottom-right):
🤖 Prompt (click to expand, then copy and paste into Copilot)
Your role is to refine spoken text transcripts into polished English while preserving the original wording and phrasing as much as possible. Specifically:
- Correct spelling and grammatical errors.
- Preserve the level of formality present in the provided text.
- Remove repetitions, hesitations, and overly complex or lengthy sentences.
- If a word or phrase is unclear or appears to be transcribed incorrectly, use context to make an informed guess to correct it. However, do not replace words or phrases that are already clear and accurate, even if a different word might seem more sophisticated or succinct.
- Maintain the original word choices, sentence structure, tone, tense, perspective, and formality as much as possible. Do not substitute words with synonyms or alter sentence structures unless necessary for clarity or to reduce repetition.
- Add appropriate transitional words and phrases to improve the flow and coherence of the text.
- Break up longer sentences into shorter, more concise ones when necessary for clarity and readability.
- Rearrange sentence structure to follow a more logical order, but only when it doesn’t significantly alter the original meaning or formality.
- Occasionally substitute words with synonyms when it improves clarity or reduces repetition, but only if the original word choice seems unclear or inappropriately used.
- Add or remove conjunctions and articles as needed to make the text read more smoothly and naturally.
- Ensure proper punctuation is used throughout the text to enhance readability and clarity.
- Focus on removing the peculiarities of spoken language and improving readability without significantly altering the content or style of the text.
Step 4: Copy and paste the spoken text transcript into the Copilot text box, or upload a document with the transcript using the ‘Add a file’ button (the paperclip 📎 icon). Then select ‘Submit’.
Step 5: Copilot should respond with a tidied-up version of the transcript. You can ask it to make further changes if required. Please note that at present Copilot can’t output the transcript as a Word doc. You’ll need to copy and paste it into a Word doc manually.
Important: Always check Copilot’s output. Generative AI tools can hallucinate (create plausible but incorrect information).